Governance
Use of ICT in Education
- 13 Apr 2020
- 3 min read
Recently, the Bihar Education Project Council (BEPC) has launched a mobile application and plans to book a slot with the All India Radio (AIR) for the audio broadcast of study materials for government school students.
- The initiative aims to help the government school students, so that their studies do not suffer due to the Covid-19 lockdown.
Key Points
- The mobile application named “Unnayan: Mera Mobile, Mera Vidyalaya” has been launched for Class VI to XII of over 70,000 government-run schools.
- The app has been jointly developed by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Bihar government and Eckovation, a social learning platform.
- In collaboration with UNICEF, class-wise and subject-wise study materials are being prepared which will be broadcast by AIR.
- Radio has a deep penetration into villages and is much simpler to operate.
- The BEPC has also encouraged students for the use of online education portals like Diksha.
- On Diksha app NCERT books are available free of cost for Class 1 to XII and have also integrated audio-visual media along with digital textbooks.
Challenges
- Digital Divide: There is a huge digital divide that exists in Bihar.
- Poverty: Most of the people in Bihar are poor and live below the poverty line and are currently struggling to meet their daily sustenance. Expecting them to find ways to make their children digitally connect with schools or participate in online classes is irrational.
- Television and Internet facilities are still luxury items for many people
- Capacity Development: Expecting teachers to seamlessly move to online platforms without adequate training and support would also be unreasonable.
- Inequalities: In a State like Bihar distance learning has also revealed glaring challenges that stem from socio-economic, digital and educational inequalities.
UNICEF
- United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is a special program of the United Nations (UN) devoted to aiding national efforts to improve the health, nutrition, education, and general welfare of children.
- It was created in 1946 as the International Children’s Emergency Fund (ICEF) by the UN relief Rehabilitation Administration to help children affected by World War II.
- Objective: It is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly to advocate for the protection of children's rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential.
- It is guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989.
- Nobel Prize: It was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1965 for “promotion of brotherhood among the nations”.
- Headquarters: New York City.
